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WFXB
Category:Fox Affiliates Category:South Carolina Category:Television stations in South Carolina Category:Fox South Carolina Category:QVC Affiliates Category:Start TV Affiliates Category:MeTV Affiliates Category:Bahakel Communications Category:Myrtle Beach/Florence Category:Television channels and stations established in 1984 Category:1984 Category:1996 Category:Former independent stations Category:Former WB affiliates WFXB, virtual channel 43 (UHF digital channel 36), is a Fox-affiliated television station licensed to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States, serving the Grand Strand and Pee Dee regions of South Carolina. The station is owned by Bahakel Communications. WFXB's studios are located on Huger Street in Myrtle Beach (on Myrtle Beach International Airport's western side), with an advertising sales office on East Evans Street in Florence. The station's transmitter is located on Grices Ferry Court near US 76 east of Mullins. The station is carried on cable channel 7 in most parts of the market. History The station began operation on July 5, 1984 as WGSE, an independent station owned by Carolina Christian Broadcasting. It was the first station in the market licensed to Myrtle Beach. WGSE carried about two-thirds religious shows and one-third secular shows. The station's original studios were located on Seaboard Street in Myrtle Beach. One of its programs was Grand Strand Tonight. The religious shows included The PTL Club, Jimmy Swaggart, Richard Roberts, and The 700 Club. It also carried a Christian show called Niteline which initially was produced at then-sister station WGGS-TV in Greenville. Eventually, WGSE began producing a local edition of Niteline as well. Initially, secular shows ran weekdays from 3 to 8 p.m. and most of Saturday. On Sundays, the station ran strictly Christian programming. It also ran other WGGS produced programs like Beverly Exercise, Peggy Denny, and others. Gradually as WGGS became a full-time Christian station, WGSE began running more of a secular line-up. However, it relied mainly on barter programming. By 1991, it was airing Christian shows from 5 to 7 a.m. and from 10 a.m. to noon. During the rest of the day, the station had a traditional Independent schedule. WGSE aired secular shows after 10 a.m. on Sundays. The station ran a lot of first run barter cartoons, family shows, and some talk shows. WGSE became a charter WB affiliate on January 11, 1995. Carolina Christian Broadcasting sold the station to James McGregor Everett in 1996. At this point, the religious shows were dropped except for a few on Sunday mornings. In November of that same year, WGSE was also able to acquire the Fox affiliation for the market. With this, the station changed their call letters to the current WFXB. Prior to November 1996, Florence–Myrtle Beach had been the only area of South Carolina, and one of the few in the Eastern Time Zone, without an over-the-air Fox affiliate. Area cable systems piped in Wilmington, North Carolina's WSFX-TV (which was the area's former CBS affiliate) as the area's default Fox affiliate (it identified as "Wilmington/Florence/Myrtle Beach") or Columbia's WACH; the latter of which was carried prior to WSFX-TV's switch to Fox. The station retained the WB affiliation for another two years on a secondary basis, giving it up upon the launch of The WB 100+, which launched the cable-only station "WFWB" for the market. By this point, more talk and reality shows as well as recent sitcoms were added. Children's programming left the station in 2002 when Fox ended its weekday kids block. Current owner Bahakel Communications purchased the station in 2006. In late-February 2009, the station added a 24-hour local weather service on a new third digital subchannel and area cable systems. On June 7, 2011, WFXB began transmission of the 43.4 subchannel as a MeTV affiliate. Until NBC affiliate WMBF-TV (channel 32) signed on in 2008, WFXB was the only station in the market licensed in the Grand Strand.